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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

Let me start, perhaps uncharacteristically, by congratulating my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on the Bill, which is small but near-perfectly formed. I do not agree—in fact, I fundamentally disagree—with some of the commentary in the press over the past two or three days, which has come from people who not only should know better, but who do not represent, as we do, real people in the real world. I particularly noted the commentary that said that we managed to convict the Kray brothers and the Richardson brothers without laws relating to anonymity. I well remember the extraordinary difficulty that we had in convicting the Kray brothers and the Richardson brothers, and the mayhem, chaos and pain that was caused during the course of the period when we could not convict them, for precisely those reasons. It is no more than common sense to say that we should have sensible anonymity rules, and enshrined in the Bill are very nearly wholly sensible anonymity rules. Let me turn to specifics. I hope to take far less than the eight minutes that we have been allotted. I entirely agree that special counsel are wholly appropriate in these circumstances. I was wholly against them when they were mooted in this House, but they have worked very well in terrorism cases, and my experience of them has been nothing but good. The idea has been commendable, and there seems to be no reason why it should not be adopted, particularly in this Bill. I, too, would favour a clause that refers to the exceptional nature of the power—not that that would do any good, in truth. As my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) pointed out, the word ““exceptional”” is in the eye of the beholder; it is merely an adjective that can be used by courts as they so wish. However, it does set a climate—it is very important to do so—in having regard to what is happening at the moment in criminal courts, particular in senior criminal courts, in relation to special measures generally. The Bill will simply add another special measure. It is undoubtedly the case, and it is causing widespread concern, that special measures are now being used to such an extent that we are creating a culture of witness protection rather than necessary witness protection. The effect of that, as has been alluded to many times, is that special measures become a form of inducement used by prosecuting authorities to obtain witnesses when those witnesses do not need them and should not have them. Giving evidence is never a pleasant thing, and it is sometimes hard, but that is what citizens are there to do. To create a culture of this kind is ultimately extremely damaging, because people who hear that such provision is available are less likely to give evidence if they do not get it. There is another aspect worth considering, if the aim of these measures is, as it undoubtedly is, undoubtedly to obtain more, though just, convictions. Juries do not like them. Juries do not like screening, in particular, and they do not like obtaining evidence by video link when it is plainly unnecessary. Some cases involve the giving of evidence by young people who are as tough as old boots. They may be members of opposing gangs—they often are—and they sit in a separate room, in circumstances of conspicuous comfort, being watched by a jury who are asking themselves time and again, ““Why is that man not in this court?”” Skilful manipulation of the cross-examination of a witness in those circumstances, by repeated questions such as, ““Are you sitting comfortably?””, ““Is everything all right?””, ““Do you still feel vulnerable?””, ““Is this a photograph of you on the top of a bus at the time?”” or ““Is that your pit bull terrier?”” does the cause of justice, in terms of prosecuting people and obtaining convictions, very little good. I make a plea now, in advance of the Bill into which these measures are bound to be incorporated in due course, that we do not approach them on the basis that witnesses need more protection. At the moment we have too much, and we need to cut into what is becoming an extremely damaging culture.